


Of Apologies and (Accidental) Hangovers

by SabbyStarlight



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: And Mac's feeling guilty and tries to fix it, Drug-Induced Hangover, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Jack is grumpy when he doesn't feel well, The drugged jack weekend, There really isn't much more to it than that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:09:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26306128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SabbyStarlight/pseuds/SabbyStarlight
Summary: Day one of The Drugged Jack Weekend!Jack is battling the hangover to end all hangovers and while it isn't entirely Mac's fault, that isn't going to stop Jack from complaining about it.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 30





	Of Apologies and (Accidental) Hangovers

"I can't believe you drugged me," Jack groaned, peeling away a corner of the cool washcloth Mac had draped across his eyes moments earlier to send an accusatory glare towards the younger man sitting across from him on the coffee table. 

"I didn't drug you," Mac corrected, a hand reaching up to rub at the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Not exactly. More like... poisoned? Which, I guess doesn't sound much better, does it?" 

"No, hoss, it really don't," Jack dropped the cloth back into place with a sigh, letting his head drop back against the couch. "However you wanna word this, you can't swing it to make you look good here." 

"But, really, poisoned isn't the right word either," Mac continued, ignoring the dig he knew Jack didn't really mean. "Cause it shouldn't have reacted the way it did. It wouldn't have if you didn't already have that round of antibiotics in you. I'm not saying that it wasn't partially my fault, I'll agree to take most of the blame for this one, I'm the one who mixed up that little bottle of alcohol dehydrogenase. It keeps you from getting drunk and leaves you feeling pretty rough the next morning, but in my defense, I've used it before and nobody has had an issue with it other than a nasty hangover."

"Well this passed up any hangover I've ever had," Jack grumbled. He was miserable and it was Mac's fault, so the least he could do was listen to him complain as he recovered. "Maybe all of 'em put together." 

"I don't doubt that you feel awful, but I'm sure it isn't that bad," Mac offered a sympathetic smile. "But I am sorry." 

"This is why the people who are actually qualified to make stuff like that know to put warning labels on them," Jack continued with his rant. "You know, the "Don't consume alcohol while taking this medication" and the "Mixing this prescription with that one will make you go blind and cause your junk to fall off" warnings? They put those there for a reason, hoss. Don't remember seein' any of those on that little bottle of what was most definitely not eyedrops you poured in my drinks." 

"Pretty sure the pharmacy doesn't have an alert sticker for that last one," Mac laughed. "And I said I would take most of the blame. It isn't completely on me. How was I supposed to know you were still taking that round of antibiotics? You always take them for like, a week and then stop once you feel fine, adding another half-full bottle to the collection in your medicine cabinet. Since when do you take the full dose as prescribed?" 

"Since you teamed up with all the stab-happy minions over at Phoenix Med to give me that horror story of a lecture about the dangers of doin' that! Last time I ever listen to one of your rants about my safety, that's for sure. Cause this sure as hell backfired." 

"You'll be fine by tomorrow," Mac reminded him. "It really is just a hangover. A really, really, really bad hangover."

"That you caused." 

"That I inadvertently caused," Mac agreed, not bothering to point out again that if Jack had been upfront about the fact that he was still taking pills that could have interfered with the serum Mac had created instead of downing the drinks without a second thought, they wouldn't be in this mess to begin with. "But you'll be fine." 

"My head is pounding, the room starts spinning every time I open my damn eyes, I feel like I'm going to hurl even though everything I've eaten in the past week has already come back up, and my muscles are trying to crawl their way out of my skin, but yeah, sure, I'll be fine. Don't worry 'bout me." 

"Man, I always forget how grouchy you get when you don't feel good," Mac shook his head fondly. It had been a long night that had faded into an even longer morning trying to take care of a completely miserable Jack Dalton. But it was, somewhat, mostly, if he was being honest, his fault, so it was the least he could do. "That cloth warm yet? I can go get you a fresh one, that might help the headache some." 

"Naw," Jack peeled the cloth away from his eyes, revealing dark circles beneath, and tossed it onto the coffee table next to Mac. "Ain't doin' much good. Appreciate the offer though. Just gotta ride this out, I guess." 

"Why don't you go lay down for a little while?" Mac suggested. He knew Jack hadn't gotten much sleep after they had made it back home. Neither of them had, and if Mac, who was only nursing the normal, as-expected, hangover, was exhausted, Jack had to be. 

"Not the worst plan," He shrugged, wincing as the movement pulled on sore muscles. "Might as well try to sleep through an hour or two of this." 

"I meant in an actual bed," Mac clarified, knowing that if he stood a chance at getting Jack to move he had to do so before he got too comfy. “Blackout curtains are already drawn in my room if you want to crash in there.”

" 'M good here," Jack protested, turning away from Mac and towards the back of the couch, hiding his eyes against the cool leather and curling in on himself. That clued Mac in more than anything else had, that as much as Jack liked to complain and over-dramatize things, he was actually hurting. Jack was always on alert. Even in his sleep, he was ready to jump into action at a moment's notice, always on his back, facing the closest entrance, firearm within reach. Tucking himself away, hiding on the sofa, vulnerable, put him at an obvious disadvantage and the fact that he didn't seem to care, left Mac worried. 

"I really am sorry," Mac apologized for what felt like the millionth time since Jack started feeling bad and they realized that Mac's concoction had reacted badly with the prescriptions Jack was already taking. He moved to sit on the couch, squeezing himself onto the edge of the seat beside Jack's hip, letting a cautious hand reach out and rub between tense shoulder blades. 

"I know ya are," Jack's voice was muffled, words buzzing against leather. "Wasn't your fault, not really.' He rolled his shoulders up into Mac's hands. "You really wanna make it up to me though, you can keep that up." 

"Seriously?" Mac couldn't help but laugh at the request, even as he continued. "A back rub and all is forgiven?" 

"Not completely. But it helps," Jack shrugged, rolling over so that he was on his stomach, snagging one of the throw pillows from the corner of the couch and wrapping his arms around, stuffing it beneath his face. "And you started it." 

"Yeah," Mac smiled, digging his thumb into a knot of tension at the base of Jack's neck. "Guess I did.” 

“Hey, you know I ain’t mad, right?” Jack asked, shifting just enough to be able to pry one eye open to peer up at Mac. “Not really? Yeah, this sucks but, you know I’m just runnin’ my mouth?” 

“I know,” Mac assured. 

“You sure? Cause sometimes you go and get lost in that big brain,” Jack reminded him, forehead creasing in concern. “Don’t want you to go thinkin’ this was enough to chase me off. Cause it wasn’t even close.” 

“I didn’t think it was,” Mac grinned. “But it’s always nice to hear that you’re not going anywhere.”

“Stuck with me for a long time,” Jack agreed, reaching out a clumsy hand to pat at Mac’s knee. 

“Alright, I'll keep this up, you go to sleep,” Mac instructed, smoothing out a wrinkle in Jack’s shirt as he continued rubbing his back. “Hopefully by the time you wake up the worst of it will be over." 

Jack was asleep before he could come up with a response.


End file.
